If you don’t start every morning by scrolling through the palatial homes on @cheapoldhouses before stumbling two (2) feet over to your desk in your four hundred (400) square foot studio, I don’t understand you. This is what we millennials do, Read more >
Think back, if you will, to the simpler time that was 2010. That summer, both Jennifer Egan and Jonathan Franzen published novels—but not just any novels. Both Freedom and A Visit From the Goon Squad were critically acclaimed, commercially successful, prize-winning novels. They were Read more >
It is hard not see this candid collection of very strong opinions—from the likes of Virginia Woolf, Rebecca West, Hilaire Belloc, and more—as something like the published DMs of today’s literary Twitter. In response to a series of quiz questions Read more >
In a world where I’m still starting every email with “I hope you’re well…ish…I mean obviously I hope you’re extremely well but I recognize that’s fairly unlikely at the moment ahahah,” it’s nice to be reminded that there are still low-stakes disputes Read more >
A mere four (4) days after F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great American Novel contender hit the public domain, we have our very first (published) take: a prequel, by Michael Farris Smith, author of Blackwood. We first heard about Nick back in the hazy Read more >
New year, new books! Reader, I hope you had a restful holiday season. I hope this list finds you recharged and ready to read all that 2021 has to offer. So far, we’re starting off strong with this group of Read more >
It’s only four days into 2021 and the Internet has united around its hatred of a guy named “Bean Dad.” If you feel your brain being battered and smoothed by the tide of social media (like me) and are thinking Read more >
As of January 1, 2021, a new group of copyrighted works—not only literature, of course, but film and music too—have entered the public domain in the US. This is the class of 1925, which Jane Ciabattari, writing for the BBC, Read more >
Barry Lopez, whose writings offered a deep understanding and nuanced exploration of the natural world and human beings’ relationship to it, has died at the age of 75. Over the course of half a century, Lopez’s work transformed the field Read more >
This holiday season is bittersweet for many: it’s been a year of grief, and many of us are forgoing holiday traditions and creating new ones in isolation. For those of us who can’t be with our families this season for Read more >
Today, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference (SVWC) announced that American author, essayist, and fiction writer Barry Lopez has been awarded its inaugural Writer in the World Prize, which recognizes and honors a writer whose work expresses a “rare combination of literary Read more >
You may not know this, but George Saunders is a holiday writer: he writes about trying to bring joy to people you love and messing it up. In “My Flamboyant Grandson,” a grandfather risks governmental discipline to smuggle his grandson Read more >
This week, New York City’s public library systems released their annual top 10 checkouts lists. These lists are always an intriguing window into the literary tastes of Gotham’s denizens, but this year’s are of particular interest. Why? Well, I for Read more >
Here’s some great literary news for your afternoon: yesterday, Chicago-native and writer Gabriel Bump was awarded the 2020 Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, for his debut novel Everywhere You Don’t Belong. The Award, which recognizes and honors outstanding fiction from Read more >
Some adaptation news to send us into the holiday! A24 is currently working on the film adaptation of Ocean Vuong’s beautiful—and widely loved—novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. The news was announced on Monday at the start of this week’s Read more >
Continuing on the Barack Obama’s Favorite Media end-of-year march, the former President has released a 20-song playlist to accompany his memoir A Promised Land, composed of songs that recall memories of his time on the campaign trail and in the Read more >
Some good news to close out the year! Recently, Roxane Gay announced on Twitter that she’s starting a book club, and anyone can participate. The Audacious Book Club will span at least one year, and the reading list for 2021 Read more >
It’s supremely gratifying to look upon a piece of literary adaptation news and think to yourself: perfect. Such was the warm, all-is-right-with-the-world-feeling I felt earlier this morning after reading the announcement that Sarah Polley will direct Frances McDormand in an Read more >
Barack Obama, the most powerful force in end of year book recommendations, has just dropped his 2020 favorites list. As we’ve come to expect from the most bookish president since John Adams (he was super into books, right?), it contains Read more >
Charlotte Charke, Sarah Bernhardt, Maxine Peake, Michelle Terry, Cush Jumbo, Ruth Negga—many towering women have played Hamlet throughout the years, and Noomi Rapace, known for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish adaptations of the Millennium series, is next Read more >
